Improvement in knitting-machines



UNi-TED STATES ATENT Prion.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,370, dated February 16, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JosnrH K. KILBOURN and EDWARD E. KlLBOU-RN, ofNorfolk, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a front elevation of. a knitting-machine with our improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a back elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the same. Fig.5 is a cross-section of the-machine at the line 00 00 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is face view of the threadguide carriage and a portion of the bar on which it traverses.

()ur invention relates to that class of machines by means of which yarn is knitinto fabrics;- and the object of our invention is to facilitate the operation of the various acting parts of such machines, to diminish their cost, and to adapt them to the employment of selfacting apparatus for efi'ecting the widening of the work.

The first part of our invention consists in mounting the needles, the sinkers, and their appurtenances in a reciprocating carriage, which is caused to travel to and fro upon stationary ways secured to the frame of the machine, which also has secured to it the cambars, by means of which the proper reciprocating movements are imparted at proper times to the needles and siukers.

The object of the second part of our invention is to insure the uniform width of the stitches;anditconsistsin effecting this by causing the needles to slidein grooves whose sides converge as they approach the bottoms of the grooves which are fitted to the size of the needles.

The third part of our invention consists in combining with a reciprocating needle-carriage a second carriage, which supports the threadguide in such manner that the latter iscansed to move along with the former after thethread is fed to the whole range of needle, but is stationary while the needles and sinkers are forming the loops, although the needlecarriage is then moving.

The fourth part of our invention consists in widening the fabric by causing the threadguide to pass down between one pair of needles and rise between another pair, this threadguide being moved in the meantime bya motion that is independentof its ordinary reciprocating movement.

The fifth part of our inventionconsists in combining with a reciprocating needle-carriage under supports, which support the needles at the places where the loops are being formed and operate to close their barbs in succession.

The sixth part of our invention consists in combining with a reciprocating series of needles and sinkers stationary apparatus for imparting the necessary movements for forming the loops to different members of the series in succession, whereby the straining of the yarn in a flat-knitting-loom is avoidedand the apparatus for operating the needles and sinkers is concentrated at the center of the loom, and may be the same whatever number of needles is employed.

The several parts of our invention are embodied in the flat-knitting loonr represented in the accompanying drawings. The various operating parts of this loom are supported by a strong rectangular bed-frame, A, which may be secured upon a table or bench at any convenient height for the operator who tends it. In the upper side of this frame there are two longitudinal V-shaped grooves, art, which form ways which guide the needle carriage in traversing to and fro from one end of the frame to the other. The frame is also fitted with brackets B B O O, which sustain the cam-bars by whose action the proper movements are imparted to the needles and sinkcrs. The needles, as shown at Fig. 4, are of the ordinary form, and each is secured to a slide having a snug, b, upon it, by means of which it is moved to and fro. The sinkers, as shown atFig. 5, are also of the ordinary form, and the shank of each one has a snug, c, by means of which it is moved to and fro.

The need le-carriage D is of rectan gular form, and is mounted upon the bed-frame, its lower side being fitted with-V-shaped feathers, which slide in the V-shaped grooves of the bedframe. Upon the upper side of this carriage there is a block of metal, (1, which extends its entire length, and has a series of transverse grooves in it to receive and guide the slides E of the of the carriage and forms the nosing or series of orifices, into which the needles are withdrawn to cast off the loops and from which they are protruded to receive the yarn to form a new series of loops. The grooves of this nosing have a V form, rounded at the bottom to fit the needle- Wire and widening as they extend upward, so that when the needles are depressed they are caused by the forms ofthe grooves to place themselves at equal distances apart, and when they rise'the widening of the grooves permits them to traverse freely in 1 them, so that the uniform widthiof the stitches is insured without burdeuing the machine with an increased amount of friction.

A second block of metal, g, is supported by standards at the-front side-ofthe carriage.

- This also has a series of groovesin it, and forms a bed to receive and guide the shanks of the series of sinkers-O, one of which intervenes between each two of the needles beneath. The

lower edge, e, of this sinker-bed overlaps the nosing from which the needles protrude, and

. forms a bar, against the lower side of which the barbs of the needles are pressed by the action of the support F beneath to close them,

so that they may pass through and cast off the loops already formed. The needle-bed d is surmounted by a stationary needle-cam bar,

G, which is supported by the brackets B B on.

the main frame of the machine, and has the cam'groove in its lower face to receive the snugs b of the needle-slides, and thus impart motion to the needles as the carriageis moved from one end of the frame to'the other. The

' form of the cam-grooveis shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Immediately in front of the sinkerbed is the sinker-cam barH, which is supported by' the brackets U G, secured to the main frame. It has a cam-groove, ac, in its hinder face to receive the snugs c of the sinker-sh anks, and thus impart motion to the siukers as the carriage moves to and fro.

The thread-guide J is situated in front of the sinkers, and is fitted to a carriage, I, which slides longitudinally upon ways secured to the front side of the sinker-cam bar H. The front side of this carriage has'two snugs,i and o, secured to it, which are alternately struck by bumpers K and M, that are carried along by the needle-carriage D. These bumpers are hung upon. a traverse-bar,N, that is supported by the overhanging extremities of the standardsj, which secure the sinker-he'd to the needle-carriage. The lower extremities of the bumpers are traversed by a screw, L, which turns in bearings attached to the standards j. One of the bumpers K is adjustable, so that it can be slid along the traverse-bar N and screw L, and secured in any desired position by means of a-setscrew, a. The other bumper is also adjustable; but itsp'osition is determined by the screw L, which works in a nut, m, se cured to the bumper M, and has a handle, 70 at one of its ends to turn it. The pitch of this screw is equal to the space between the centers of the needles, so that by turning it one or more revolutions the bumper is moved along one or more needles. The shank of the screw has a collar, p, upon it, which has a notch in it to receive a spring-paw], w, by which the screw is secured afterit has been turned to set the needle in any required position. The thread-guide J has the form of a flattened tube, whose upper and lower edges will readily'enter and pass through the space between the needles. Its shank is secured to a slide,

It, which slides vertically in a broad dovetailed groove formed in the faceof the threadguide carriage I. The hinder side of the slide has a snug secured to it, which is received in and operated by a cam-groove, 7', formed in the front side of the sinker-cam bar H, so that as the thread-guide carriage is propelled to and fro by the alternate contact of its snugs with the bumpers secured to the needle-carriage the thread-carrieris depressed below and raised above the needles.

A pair of movablesupports, F and F, are supported in guides upon the front side of the main frame in such manner that they can be raised and depressed in alternate succession. The inner side of the shank or slide of each support has a snug secured to it, which passes through a slot in the bed-frame and rests upon a sliding bar, S, (represented in dotted lines in Fig. 1.) The upper edge of this sliding. bar is inclined at certain parts of. its length, and as the sliding bar is moved longitudinally to and fro these inclined planes pass under the snugs and raise the supports or permit them to descend out of, the way of the needles. The sliding bar is moved to and fro at the proper times by means of a driver, T, secured to theneedle carriage D, which driver alternately comes in contact with snugs t, secured to the hinder face ofthe sliding bar, as the carriage approaches the opposite extremities of its range of motion.

The cloth-roll upon which the work is rolled up and the take-up motion are situated at the hinder side of the carriage. They may be of any construction which will perform the duties required of them. In this example the cloth-roll P is a simple cylinder having a lougitudinal groove in it, in which hooks are secared, to which the end of the work is made fast. One of the journals of this cloth-roll projects beyond its box, and is fitted with a ratchet-wheel, 8, whose teeth are operated upon by a finger, V. The latter is secured to the upper arm of a lever, U, whose lowerlarm nals z of this tension-roll pass through slots iri the-hangers which support it, so that it can rise and fall and maintain a constant strain sion-roller descends by reason of the increase in the length of the work, its journal, leaving the stop, permits the finger-lever to vibrate and move the finger V to a new tooth of the ratcliet-wheel, so that the returning vibration of the finger-lever, by the action of the inclined plane over which it is drawn by the reciprocating movement of the carriage, impels the finger against the ratchettooth and causes it and the yarmroll to turn. Y

In order to prevent the return of the yarnroll when the finger is shitting from tooth. to tooth, a spring-pawl, l, is pivoted to the frame to act upon the ratchet-teeth.

- The yarn to be knit is wound upon a tube so that it will deliver readily, and the tube is supported upon a standard, Y, which projects from the front-side ot' the bed-frame. above this standard there is an eye, a, through which the yarn is passed, after which it is passed through the thread-guide J, and thence to the needles and sinkers.

In order to understand the operation ot'the machine when it is at work, let it be supposed that the carriage D is long enough to carry a sntficient number of needles and sinkers to knit the widest cloth thatis required, and that the carriage is at the left-hand side of the ma chine, the support F being at its highest position. Letit alsobe supposed that the machine is knitting straight work of the full width of which it is capable. When the carriage is in this position the thread-guide is at the righthand end of the series of needles, as represented in Fig. 1, and the yarn leads from the needle nearest the thread-guide. If, now, the carriage be moved to the right, the needles and sinkers in succession pass by the thread-guide, which,

remaining stationary, feeds out the yarn to the needles as they pass. As the needles in passing ride over the support F the sinkers are caused by the action of their appropriate camgroove to descend in succession between the needles and carry down folds of yarn, thus forming loops upon the needles, and as the descent of the sinkers is successive and but a small portion of the whole is in process of descent simultaneously, the yarn to form the loops is drawn under but these few sinkers at a time and with only a slight strain upon it or the-machine. Asthe sinkers descend the continued progression of the carriage carries the needle-slides along the inclined portion of the needle-cam bar and causes the needles to be drawn into the orifices from which they protrude. As this operation is taking place while the needles are riding over the highest part of the support F,.they are-pressed up by its ac tion against the bar e of the sinker-bed. The pressure thus produced closes the barbs ot' the needles, so that as they are drawn into the orifices they enter andpass through the series of loops of yarn previously formed, and, drawing the new set of loops with them through the previous set, cast off the latter. The wit hdrawal of the needles into their orifices takes place simultaneously with the ascent of the sinkers by the action of their cam-bar, so that the folds of yarnformed by the latter are l6lldered up to the needles as they enter theirorifices. WVhen in the motion of the carriage the set of needles has passed the thread-guide the bumper M, striking the corresponding snug, i,

on' the thread-guide carriage, causes it to move with the needle carriage, so that no more yarn is fed by the movement of the latter past the former. YVhile the two carriages are moving together the thread-guide is caused to descend by the action of its cam-groove and to rise again as the needle-carriage approaches the extremity of its stroke, and when the needlecarriage comes to rest the thread-guide is at the left-hand end of the series of needles, ready to feed out yarn when the needles are moved from right to left. While the carriage is progressing from left to right the righthand support is at its lowest position, as shown at Flg. 1, so as to afford no obstruction to the protrusion of the needles as their slides are again acted upon by the right-hand inclined portion of their'cam-bar; but as the carriage reaches the extremityot'its stroke the driver T, secured to it, striking the appropriate snug on the bar S, causes the latter to move, thus raising the right-hand support and depressing the lefthand one. The parts of the machine are now ready for the return-stroke of the needle-carriage, which is followed by a repetition of the above-described movements. In this return movement the opposite bumper K acts upon the appropriate snug 0 of the thread-guide carriage and returns the latter to its first position after the needles have all passed the t hread guide. The driver. T also acts upon the opposite snug of the bar S to change the position of the supports.

In forming goods of varying widths, which is the kind of work for which this machine is specially adapted, the adjust-ability of the thread-guide is brought into action. In this case the narrowest part of the stuff-is formed first, and the bumper M is set by turning the screw L in such'manner that it will strike the appropriate snug of the needle-carriage and cause the thread-guide carriage to move with the needle-carriage when the yarn has been delivered to only a portion of the needles instead of the whole, the number so fed, and consequentl y the width ot'the work, being determined bylthe position of the bumper M,whichis gov erned by the screw. By this new position of the bumper the thread-guide is sooner put in motion, and hence it is caused to descend between a pair of the needles, instead of at the end of the whole series. The needles between the descending thread-guide and the left-hand end of the carriage are thus cut off from the rest, and the width of the work is proportioned to the number of the remaining set of needles. If, now, the work is to be widened, the screw is turned to move the bumper toward the left: hand end ofthe needle-cart iage aftertheth-readguide has descended and before it rises, and as the pitch of the screw in this instance is The present machine is adapted to the widening of the work at one side only; but by con-; structing the traverse-bar N in the form of a screw, like the lower screw, and causing it to' act upon a nut in the second bumper, K, the, thread-guide may be operated to widen the work at either side at pleasure. If, on the other hand, thelower screw have at one end a righthanded screw-thread and at the other end a left-handed screw-thread, each thread operat-j ing on a nut secured to one of the bumpers, the} widening would be effected at the opposite edges of the work equally in opposite direotions by the turning of the one screw, L. Nar-' rowing the work may be eflected by turning the screw in the reverse direction to thatfor; widening. The work formed is drawn beneath the upper side of the carriage,is passed around the tension-roller,and is applied to the take-up roller P, upon which itis wound as it isformed by the operation of the take-up motion.

By the system we have devised of supporting the needles and sinkers upon a traversing carriage the whole of the work of knitting is performed near the center of the machine, and.

the cam-bars and supports, which are subjected to the greatest strains, may all be secured firmly to the bed-frame, while at the same time the positions of the needle and sinker cam bars relatively to their needles and sinkers tend to bear the latter downward and prevent any tendency in the needle-carriage to rise from its ways. An examination of the supports shows that their upper edges deviate from a straight line, and these deviations are impor- When the needles in their movements taut. first reach each support they move over the lowest portion of the latter, so that the needles are then permitted to rest in the lowest portions of the orifices of the needle-bed. As these orifices are contracted at their bottoms so as to fit the needles, the latter, in being depressed to the bottoms of the grooves by the forcing down of the folds of yarn by the sinkers, are caus: d to arrange themselves at equal distances apart, whereby the uniformity in the sizes of sured. The elevation of the edge of the support at y above its lowest level is an advantage, as the raising of the needles at this point permits the slope of the sinker-cam groove to be made less abrupt than it would otherwise be operated with less friction. The elevation of the highest portion of the support is a matter of necessity, as it raises the. needles in succession and causes their barbs to press against the bar above, by which they are closed.

In the foregoing description the take-up mechanism is described as moving alongwith the needles and sinkers. This combination up mechanism and obviates the difliculty that would arise from the use of a reciprocating series of needles and sinkers with stationary take-up mechanism, as in the latter case some means would have-to be devised to give back and take up cloth as the needles and sinkers move to and fro.

that portions of our machine may be modified without affecting the principle of our invention, and we contemplate so to modify the various parts of our machine as circumstances may render expedient. Thus, for example, the take-up motion we have described may be varied by substituting a pair of nipping and drawingrollers in place of thesingle cloth-roll, in which case the fabric will be delivered from the pair of rollers in .a flat sheet. Motion may also be imparted to the feed-carriage by a segment and rack, or by a crank, or by an eccentrio, or in any manner that may be convenient.

What we claim as our inyention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Combining the needles and sinkers with a reciprocating carriage operating substantially as herein set forth.

.2. The adjustment ofthe position of the neodles at the time the sinkers are forming the folds of yarn by means of grooves in the nosing, whose sides convergeso as to insure the uniform width of the stitches. I

3. The. combination of a reciprocating series of needles with a reciprocating thread-guide, operating, substantially as herein set forth, so as to move at times with the needles and to remain stationary at other times whenthe needles are moving.

4;. The varying of the width of the fabric by causing the-thread guide to pass down between one pair of needles and to rise between tially as herein set forth, thus producing a selvage-edge where widening is elTected.

-5. The.combination of under supports, oper ating substantially as herein set forth, with a reciprocating serieso-f needles, so as to supthe folds, and consequently of the loops, is in-' have to be, and thus enables the machine to permits the employment of a very simple take-.

.It will be evident to the skillful engine er another pair by mechanism operating substanport the needles and eflect the closing oftheir for taking up the workas it is formed, substanoarbs. tially as-herein set forth.

6. Combining with a reciprocating series of In testimony whereof we have hereunto subneedles and sinkers cam-bars or their eqnivascribed our names. lents in such manner as to impart the necessary movements for forming the loops to the several members of the series in succession, substantially as herein set forth. Witnesses:

- 7. Combining a reciprocating series of nee- PETER OURTISS, dies and sinkers with reciprocating mechanism A. G. PETTIBONE. 

